Carl W. Kenney II is an award winning columnist and novelist. He is committed to engaging readers into a meaningful discussion related to matters that impact faith and society. He grapples with pondering the impact faith has on public space while seeking to understand how public space both hinders and enhances the walk of faith.

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Are black men being silenced?

I’ve conceded it’s a futile task.You simply can’t educate people on how it
feels to be a black man.

It’s hard to be heard.It’s ever harder to share all that passion without being labeled.You’re left feeling isolated from the rest,
and minimized for doing what comes natural – screaming because few are willing
to listen.

Over the years, I have committed my work to standing
in the middle.My credentials qualify me
to speak as one nurtured in that space between varied worlds.I’m a black man who has never attended a
Historical Black University.I graduated
from schools with an overwhelmingly white attendance, and found it difficult at
times to fit due to the assumptions made about me.I was forced to overcome my own hostility
forged after being discriminated against.

I know the difference between taking things personal
and being overlooked because of my race. I’m not an angry black man.I’m a black man who has lived with that
burden.

That stuff hurts.

I’m also the product of my own mistakes.I’m a recovering addict who once used drugs
to cover my insecurity.I, like so many
black men, was forced to take personal responsibility for the error of my ways.
In time, lots of it, I found the strength to keep pressing after being denied
and minimized for things I did long ago.

That stuff is real.

Frantz Fanon said it best in Black Skin, White Mask. Fanon argued that black people are forced
to survive within two worlds – the world of white power and privilege and the
world of black dysfunction.For this
reason, black people, for the most part, know more about white people than they
know about themselves.Black people are
forced to contend with white culture and norms while standing distant from it
all due to the limits caused by race.

Ellis Cose writes about this burden in his book The Rage of the Privileged Class. Cose
discovered extreme frustration among black people who have gained access to the
world of class privilege.No matter how
much they achieve, something is missing.The thing missing is respect and acceptance as one who offers a credible
voice beyond the assumptions of white people.

Standing in the gap between the world of white
privilege and black dysfunction comes with the risk of pitting those who speak
against those unwilling to admit the influence of their privilege.Using the terms power and privilege in the
same sentence stirs hostility among those so glued to their own notions that
they can’t see the imperfection of their own claims.

This is the place real racism shows up.It rises to the top whenever the voices of
those in the middle are confronted for speaking from the middle.The expectation is for them to share from the
place of white privilege.That position
discredits the context that hinders those on the other side of the middle.The outcome is an attack of those who use
their intellect and expertise to raise issues fueled from that unique
perspective.

The common trend is to force black men to speak from
the perspective of the white side of their bearings.They’re expected to think white, speak white
and to draw conclusion that fail to ponder their position as black men.

This is a painful truth.

Black men are asked not to feel.They’re asked not to share those stories that
helped them transcend the grip that keeps so many black men down.They’re asked to talk about education as the
key to their overcoming, but to remain silent regarding the emotions they
carried along the way.

You simply can’t separate the educational process from
the unique social condition and enculturation that all black men face.We’re asked not to talk about the pain that
comes with being judged before taking the test.

That pain is too profound for most to listen.

So, what happens when black men are asked to speak
only to be told their opinion doesn’t matter?What lesson is there for black boys who witness black men invalidated
for sharing from their unique position?Even more maddening is the assumption among those who refuse to accept
the views of black men who, more than anyone else, have the answer regarding
what black boys need to achieve.

All of us should take note of how white women bout
with men for functioning from a place of power and privilege. Feminist attack
patriarchy.They challenge us to
consider the assumptions men make while being unable to view life from the lens
of women.If white women challenge us to
consider the voices of women, why can’t we ben sensitive to the voices of black
men?

Why aren’t black men afforded the same respect?Why can’t black men lead the charge to
develop a strategy for black boys?What
does it say when people unable to comprehend the condition of black boys tell
black men what’s best for black boys?

That is, by definition, a position of power and privilege.It’s a truth many refuse to concede. It’s disrespectful
to discredit the voices of those living within that social condition. Why does
this happen so often when it comes to the state of black men?

Why is it that no one is willing to listen to black
men?

Since no one is asking, I will answer the
question.It leaves us feeling no one
cares to listen.It leaves us feeling no
one wants black men to achieve.It feels
like a plan to further destroy black men.

Do I believe that’s the case? NO! But perceptions
speak deep.Real deep.

If you want to know what it takes to reach black boys,
ask a black man.We know because we
experience a common link.

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Carl W. Kenney II

Carl was named the best serious columnist of 2011 by the North Carolina Press Association for his work with the News & Observer's community paper The Durham News and in 2016 by the Missouri Press Association for his columns in the Columbia Missourian. He is a columnist with the News & Observer and Co-Executive Producer of "God of the Oppressed" an upcoming documentary film on black liberation theology. He is a former Adjunct Professor at the University of Missouri - School of Journalism and Adjunct Instructor at Duke University, the Center for Documentary Studies. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia. He furthered his education at Duke University and attained a Master of Divinity. He was named a Fellow in Pastoral Leadership Development at the Princeton Theological Seminary on May 14, 2005. He is a freelance writer with his commentary appearing in The Washington Post, Religious News Services,The Independent Weekly and The Durham Herald-Sun. Carl is the author of two novels: “Preacha’ Man” and the sequel “Backslide”.
He has led congregations in Missouri and North Carolina